Making the Most of it

At the beginning of the year I challenged myself to make the most of my senior year, to enjoy as much of what Claremont and LA had to offer as possible, and generally live beyond and outside of schoolwork.  I think to a certain extent I have been successful, perhaps to the detriment of said schoolwork and most definitely to the detriment of making substantial progress on my thesis (uh, yeah, about that…)  However, I think we all need a break, and enjoying life a little hopefully doesn’t get in the way of being too productive.  Aren’t breaks supposed to help you be more productive?  I like to think of these excursions as things to look forward to, to motivate me and get me through those long nights of reading.

So, in the spirit of making the most of things, I have been able to do and go to several really cool events and concerts and the like.  I think for now they are definitely winding down (which might just do my thesis some good).  In any case, here are some of the things I’ve been able to enjoy and explore:

 

The US Women’s Gold Medal Winning Gymnastics Team, up in Olympic-style rings at the Tour of Gymnastics Champions

I found myself at the Staples Center not once but twice within the past month or so, though neither time was for a basketball or hockey game.  First, a couple weeks ago, my family and I went to see the Kellog’s Tour of Gymnastic Champions, which showcased athletes from the US Olympic and World and US Championship teams, and they did really awesome numbers combining dance and gymnastics and fun performance.  I was kind of obsessed with the Olympics this summer and persuaded my family to get tickets for this ages ago, so I had a really good time—even if the rest of the audience was mostly Girl Scout troops and young gymnasts.

The Black Keys performing at the Staples Center

The second thing I did at the Staples Center was go to the Black Keys concert this past weekend (also with my family!), which was really fun—especially when we all got up at the end to sing and dance along to “Lonely Boy.”

Some other things I’ve gotten to do I’ve already blogged about, like going to the Hollywood Bowl with a friend to see the LA Phil and attending the TED talks here on campus.  Before school started I got to go to a Regina Spektor concert as well, which was wonderfully awesome.  In addition to that, I’m trying to appreciate Claremont more and all it has to offer, most especially by frequenting the Sunday morning farmer’s market to get fresh flowers for my room.

Flowers make my room exciting!

Now I know it probably sounds like I’ve been exercising some class privilege and spending lots of money on entertainment, but I would protest that a) I try to get the cheapest/freest tickets possible and b) it’s not that frequent and c) I’m really enjoying spending a bit on exploring and enjoying and connecting with all that Claremont and LA have to offer.  We live near a very happening place.  It’s nice that we can have the opportunity to take advantage of it!